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End of an Era

17-04-2017, 01:30

BayernZone - Blog

End of an Era
by Sakujo on April 16, 2017

I believe the turning point was in 2014, and the team’s end of an era started then. I still remember one of Pep’s first press conferences when he first joined us, saying that his biggest challenge will undoubtedly be to motivate the players to try and win it all again. The man wasn’t kidding.

I first wanted to start out by thanking Sakujo for his impeccably laid out points and fantastic article to kickstart the blog

On to the article. I feel like the overall message of the article rings true, even if I don't want to believe it. It does not apply to all players - Boateng is one of those CL/WC players that still seems to give it his all, as does Neuer, but others such as Schweini grew complacent and their level dropped massively. The board seems to have noticed this as well, which is why they bring on players who have a lot to prove (Coman, Costa, Sanches) along with top talent who have proven their skills but may not have the titles to prove it (Lewa, Hummels).

I do miss seeing Alaba's performances before we won the CL - he was on fire, and looked like he had something to prove. Indisputably the best LB in the world that year. Now he puts in good performances, but none which make you go "are you seeing this guy?". How much of that can be attributed with the circus going on at LW is debatable - a long term partnership with Coman, if he stays and develops into a world class player, would be extremely solid. Lahm leaving this year, and Robben in the twilight of his career (in theory) will soon raise questions on that side of the pitch. But no one can doubt the dutchman's drive.

All in all I think these transitional years are rough, but I believe that with Guardiola handling the brunt of the starting years (and getting the flak for it) and Carletto cementing a playstyle with the newer players, we will come out triumphant. If only the new, hungry blood was given more time (Kimmich, Sanches, PEH before we sold him) we might be able to quicken it up, but it's a tough act to balance while simultaneously challenging for the CL. Sule next year is a boon to our team, and other acquisitions will have to be made, but as long as they have the drive, we should be fine. Transitions are rarely pretty, and I'm glad Sakujo's article dissected it neatly, for us to analyse.

Comment

I wanted my main focus of what I wrote to be on the mentality and overall morale of our players of the recent years.
in reality our current problems extend far beyond just that, I just wanted to raise this point of view as it is often buried under the tactical aspects of our games.
but if I am to move a bit away from the main point of the article and pin point a problem that in my own opinion is to be considered our main issue for this season, I would say it's the poor squad planning.
If we get knocked out tomorrow evening, then regardless of how we play I'll put the biggest load of the blame on Uli and Co, going into this season without a proper backup striker and the letting Badstuber go have made our squad so thin.
the passive reasoning for both decisions is exactly why we are suffering right now.

All in all I think these transitional years are rough, but I believe that with Guardiola handling the brunt of the starting years (and getting the flak for it) and Carletto cementing a playstyle with the newer players, we will come out triumphant. If only the new, hungry blood was given more time (Kimmich, Sanches, PEH before we sold him) we might be able to quicken it up, but it's a tough act to balance while simultaneously challenging for the CL. Sule next year is a boon to our team, and other acquisitions will have to be made, but as long as they have the drive, we should be fine. Transitions are rarely pretty, and I'm glad Sakujo's article dissected it neatly, for us to analyse.

going further this is my main concern about Carlo, a player like Kimmich have done everything possible to earn him a starting role in the team, while players like Muller and Alonso have done a lot to earn them a spot on the bench for each, yet none of that has happened. Ribery & Costa's current inconsistency should have warranted much more playing time for Coman, which is something that didn't happen either. not to mention the 38-Millions worth of a talent that is warming the benches for the entirety of the season.

Comment

It's funny how i felt that "start of the end" here on BZ. Before our triumph in 2013, this forum was on a hill, if you followed Bayern closely, you could have stayed on this forum for a good 2-3 hours a day just reading new posts and discussions, everybody was active and place was full of life.

After the triple, it just went down. I remember a match threads with 4 to 5 pages at most, it was a moment when everybody felt kinda fed up, there was just no spark and joy like before. I don't blame anyone in particular, I was feeling less hungry myself too, but this forum lost some of glory members here and it seemed to me like the change of "generation" was needed. With Trim gone, I feel like this forum has started to breathe again and I don't think it's Trim's fault that the forum fell asleep in the first place, I just believe change was needed, and a huge one. We got it, and this forum feels more feisty than ever in the last 3 years.

I believe that's the thing that has to happen with Bayern, we switched from Pep to Carlo, and in the end of this season we will substitute some of our key players with fresh ones so we are on a good route. I already said that I won't judge Carlo in his first season. Part of that was because I believed we couldn't beat ourselves more than anyone else, our lack of hunger and overall anxiety caught us too many times with easy BL matches and it always backfired on us in crucial times. My feeling is that this season won't be any more special than the last 3 were (under Pep), but I strongly believe that the best is yet to come from new generation of Thiago, Kimmich, Alaba and co.

Comment

Brilliant points and very well put down, in German you'd say "auf den Punkt gebracht" fair play! I wanted to ask you Is it just me or Bayern (as well as Germany NT) seem to handle losses much better than victories, in fact?

Comment

Brilliant points and very well put down, in German you'd say "auf den Punkt gebracht" fair play! I wanted to ask you Is it just me or Bayern (as well as Germany NT) seem to handle losses much better than victories, in fact?

that is so true, I've noticed that as well ..
all I asked for when I wrote that article is a fight on Tuesday, and the team delivered a fight. can't ask for more, I have some criticism for some players but that's normal I guess.
I enjoyed the match, till it was ruined by the ref sadly ..

last week when we lost one player, the team collapsed, and gave up.
the difference is vast this week. even when were one man down we still pressed them, and tried to add one more.
why Costa .. why??

that's exactly the kind of mentality we lacked in the first game and in the previous years. we need more of that.
that is also why I am defending Vidal, and probably a bit tad too harsh on Thiago, the former plays with heart, the later didn't.

we must give more time to Kimmich, Sanches and even Coman. they play with passion and are very hungry for silverware .. especially the first two.

Comment

that is so true, I've noticed that as well ..
all I asked for when I wrote that article is a fight on Tuesday, and the team delivered a fight. can't ask for more, I have some criticism for some players but that's normal I guess.
I enjoyed the match, till it was ruined by the ref sadly ..

last week when we lost one player, the team collapsed, and gave up.
the difference is vast this week. even when were one man down we still pressed them, and tried to add one more.
why Costa .. why??

that's exactly the kind of mentality we lacked in the first game and in the previous years. we need more of that.
that is also why I am defending Vidal, and probably a bit tad too harsh on Thiago, the former plays with heart, the later didn't.

we must give more time to Kimmich, Sanches and even Coman. they play with passion and are very hungry for silverware .. especially the first two.

My thoughts exactly. I also wanted a match and the team stood up for that. I think the timing plays a huge role in those events, we've seen a red card in both matches as we had the momentum by our side, at least today the team knew they had nothing to lose. I think a few players are so tired there'll be a chance for some youngsters and that's when they will have to step up once for all.

Comment

Nope. Lahm since he announced his retirement even begun playing better, with a purpose.

Completely. At the begining of the season he was bad, since his announcement, he stepped up big time. It's clear that he wanted to leave football with that last CL trophy. A true shame we didn't manage to give it to him.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

Comment

Nope. Lahm since he announced his retirement even begun playing better, with a purpose.

It's nice to see him improving during the season. But when you announce your retirement before going downhill or getting the last glory of another CL, it's just a signal to the team that you don't care getting the last glory, all you want is to go with your family.

Comment

It's nice to see him improving during the season. But when you announce your retirement before going downhill or getting the last glory of another CL, it's just a signal to the team that you don't care getting the last glory, all you want is to go with your family.